Lexus LS 500 Next to Receive Inspiration Series Treatment

[maiaramdan]

Love the interior black & white combo, the dark rims hope all the chrome to be this dark level but I am totally not sold for the exterior colour

 

[Gecko]

Love the interior black & white combo, the dark rims hope all the chrome to be this dark level but I am totally not sold for the exterior colour

Yeah... interior is really nice but everything being grayscale with burgundy exterior paint is a strange decision.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

Love the dramatic interior look, but that exterior paint's no bueno. If they're doing this, it should be the Structural Blue.

 

[krew]

Lexus USA has announced that the LS 500 will be the next vehicle in the lineup to receive the limited edition Inspiration Series treatment.

It starts with a color new to the LS — Deep Carnet is a dark metallic red that shifts shades depending on the light. 20-inch wheels in Black Vapor Chrome complete the exterior. Inside, white leather is...

Continue reading...

 

[Lasse J. Nordvik]

I really like seeing the cut glass door panels with a lighter interior colour, especially a lighter colour headliner which gives a more open and airy atmosphere. I really do hope that this or something similar finds its way to Europe.

 

[Deusex]

Nice, only problem still cant tell the difference b/w ES and LS.

 

[maiaramdan]

@Deusex , maybe you are right from exterior, interior is totally in new league both design and materials wise, and once you start driving you will know where exactly you pay

A6 / A8 , 5 / 7 , E / S all lookalike and drive though but it's ok because they are ze Germans

Honestly ES handle worth than Camry but on the other hand the LS handle better or same as the dare I say 5 series !!!!!

2 totally different cars at all

 

[thtupid]

Don't get me wrong this car is fantastically beautiful (despite what I think about it being too sporty). My only problem is that the current LS just lacks the presence of the previous generations. The biggest issue I had with it though, is not actually the car itself. Rather, it was released the same day as the camry. And the body shape of the LS (especially the rear quarter) looks exactly the same as the camry. I guess maybe the camry is so good now it kinda treads on Lexus' heels. Maybe it's coz I cross shop between a camry and the IS (ended up with the IS only because I think it looks better, RWD, smaller and the lack of desirable equipment in the Australian version of the camry. Not the badge itself).

Again don't get me wrong i'm not dissing the LS. I just wish it was more, what's the word...special. Coz, to me, apart from the glass inserts, it just isn't. It's more GS than LS. It would have been a mighty fine GS actually...maybe I was expecting more for a flagship. But then who doesn't? A flagship is suppose to inspire people to the brand. And I just don't feel the LS is special enough to do that.

But what would I know. I'm just a fan of TMC and Lexus. Nothing more.

 

[maiaramdan]

Honestly me too, when I first saw the LS I told to myself why they didn't give us the LF-FC as the LS and this LS as the GS, and when I drove it in AWD F sport I became sure that this is the new generation GS hence I have GS-F and I got GS450h, GS350 second gen GS450h & GS430 and first gen GS300

 

[mikeavelli]

Just my two cents.... I would have loved to see something more Inspirational.. to me you start with the F-Sport...give it a nice twist on white, keep that same interior, put some 20" wheels on instead of 19s and the usual Inspirational bits.

I doubt anyone would notice that car. The LC Inspiration series had a killer blue and now yellow.Heck maybe use the same blue!

 

[Carmaker1]

It is an okay offering, but seems to be pointless when 25th and 30th anniversary editions would say much more for the nameplate.

Who is managing Lexus marketing? The fact the 2015 LS didn't have 25th anniversary edition was criminal, so a 30th anniversary edition should make up for that.

Honestly me too, when I first saw the LS I told to myself why they didn't give us the LF-FC as the LS and this LS as the GS, and when I drove it in AWD F sport I became sure that this is the new generation GS hence I have GS-F and I got GS450h, GS350 second gen GS450h & GS430 and first gen GS300

That's my impression when I first drove the LS 1 year ago. Even knowing the development story behind the car I am frustrated to know that what was the design that they did and didn't even try and rework the car to fit it, as in belatedly seeing their mistake during development 4 years ago.

All it would have taken was an additional review of the 200B LS design in the first half of 2015 and begrudgingly correcting it to reflect the LF-FC (its design was approved 3 December 2014).

In the end it really wouldn't have made a difference to engineering time, considering when production actually started at the very end of 2017 and not mid-2017 target.

Surely Toyota wouldn't have minded managing a 4 month cubing period in early 2015 from corrective design approval to design freeze, then SOP in December 2017 for early 2018 global launch.

Everyone gushed about that LF-FC Concept, being a knockout that you loved or hated. That was based on an alternative 200B LS proposal in 2013-14, which conveniently used the same design language, but a different design (thus not giving it away too early).

The new LS is the perfect GS and has lovely presence in F-Sport form, but is more of a discount Japanese Panamera than S-Class. That was too much a risk to take, as the sales will reflect it.

But at the end of the day, it is good to offer special editions! Just be consistent.

 

[maiaramdan]

Agree
100% agree with all what you said
I am now start worrying about what we will have at the LS facelift time

Can they confess and repair their fatal mistake and make this current design after the facelift as the GS and give us the LF-FC as the facelifted LS !!!

I think no one have the courage to do that in all automotive current history except 2 Elon Musk and the amazing Sergio Marchionne RIP

 

[Ian Schmidt]

The LS facelift is slated to be the LS-FC, if nothing's changed.

Lexus' previous lineup was a statement that you couldn't have a flagship Lexus if you cared about performance and handling (I belatedly discovered I did in 2017 when I moved to my current house, where the optimal route to and from work involves some Nürburgring-worthy twists). They fixed it for the performance peeps, but they really need to offer both kinds of sedans at the top end, maybe LS and LSS or LST or something. (No, the LC doesn't count).

 

[maiaramdan]

The current LS is also sporty side design not as the LF-FC which is basically same everything but designed to be Luxury even if it's sporty capable

 

[Carmaker1]

The LS facelift is slated to be the LS-FC, if nothing's changed.

Lexus' previous lineup was a statement that you couldn't have a flagship Lexus if you cared about performance and handling (I belatedly discovered I did in 2017 when I moved to my current house, where the optimal route to and from work involves some Nürburgring-worthy twists). They fixed it for the performance peeps, but they really need to offer both kinds of sedans at the top end, maybe LS and LSS or LST or something. (No, the LC doesn't count).

It is a lovely car the new LS, but I am surprised at market reception (going a bit more niche) and I am hoping investment is executed well at fixing any issues.

Are flagship sedan buyers just becoming fickle? Or the LS is echoing the sales of niche flagships instead versus traditional types?

I really think LS needs a bit more customization, in addition to these special editions. I know we have Kiriko, but...

As for the facelift, things at times just feel so unpredictable. LS+ seems like a sure bet though, but who knows if that has changed.

MY 2021 vehicles might tell the whole story on the future of Lexus design. The 2019 ES followed the LS design, so what comes next for certain I wonder?

A facelift car (LS or LC) fortells things or perhaps, a new MY 2021 product (NX, IS)? Then again, the way media is talking, it's like nothing might be new at Lexus for MY 2021. And then everything crammed in MY 2022/23.

Now that estimate seems really wrong in my opinion, as I give Lexus more credit than that. Not to just leave MY 2020 and 2021 as update only years.

Back to the LS, I made the same complaints about the outgoing XJ alienating buyers.

 

[Carmaker1]

The current LS is also sporty side design not as the LF-FC which is basically same everything but designed to be Luxury even if it's sporty capable

A sportier LS has been a great thing, but I cannot help questioning that trying to make the flagship a compromise into one fits all type of vehicle was good thing.

They really shouldn't have done that and I am seeing through it as a cynical marketing exercise, where Lexus thought that they could skip creating a separate high end four door sports model, alongside the LS.

Making the LS more engaging was something I welcomed, but how they went about it and now bandaging its struggles with only low investment special editions, makes me wonder who is running things truly?

I'll see what happens for MY 2020/21, as I have given up on Infiniti and look to Lexus for non-Euro representation in this segment, so naturally I am very critical.

 

[maiaramdan]

Something happened with the top guys in the Japanese trio

It's really strange situation, on 09" when the acceleration thing happened, everyone was still have a lot of hope in the Japanese more than now, something really wrong in 09" Supra and 86 were dust, they didn't started to R&D the TNGA, they didn't have sporty design and even the material quality was not as good, but the overall package was superb, second to none, no one can hurt Toyota Initial Quality not even the long Reliability, we are living like in very bad dream, not yet nightmare but still afraid to see the Japanese lose on Automotive as they did in Electronics